Wrench.



PATENTBD JULY 26, 1904. H. L. BORDWELL.

. WRENCH.

gm NNI APPLICATION FILED MAR. 23. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

Patented July 26, 1904.

Arana trice,

HARRY L. BORDIVELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 765,912, dated July 26,1904.

Application filed Marcl1'23 1903.

To LH wiz/0711, it mfr/y concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY L. BoRDwELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and, State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vrenches,of which the following' is a specification.

My invention relates generally to wrenches for holding` or turningpipes, nuts, etc., but particularly to that form of wrench used forobtaining a grip upon a round pipe or other like objects. It is intendedto improve specifically the type of pipe wrench in which one of thegripping' jaws is mounted indirectly upon a pivot so that the thrust ofthe handle will operate to cause the two jaws to approach each other inorder to get the necessary pressure upon the pipe. The object of theinvention is to improve the construction and operation of such a wrench,and to obtain certainv advantages in the arrangement and design ofparts, as will hereinafter appear.

I have illustrated the essentials of my construction in preferred formin the accompanying drawing, whereim* Figure l is a side elevation ofthe wrench shown as embracing a section of pipe.

Figure 2 is a central vertical section through the housing of themovable jaw shown in Figure l.

Figure 3 is a cross section of the device taken on line 3 in Figure l.

In wrenches of the kind described there is a handle 4 provided with ahead 5 having a clutching face to operate upon the pipe, and havingpivoted by a pin 9 a casing 8 which contains the movable jaw 7 providedwith a gripping' head 6. The movable jaw 7 is adjusted in position toengage the pipe by means of the operation of the nut l0 upon the threadsll, as shown in VFigure l.

In operation, as indicated in Figure 2, the wrench is placed upon thepipe in a position wherein the head 6 is tilted up at an angle, and whenpressure is brought downward upon the handle 4 it is plain that a motionof the point marked c in the diagram thereon will take place about thepoint Z1, by which the gripping face of the movable head will roll uponSerial No. 149,236. (No model.)

the pipe from a t'o a, and that this relative motion of the points c,and a in the direction indicated will have the eect of bringing the twogrippingfaces of the wrench together, that is to say, lessening thedistance between a and and by this means the pipe is brought undercompression in order to give a perfect hold thereon. I

In order to insure the movable head taking easily upon the pipe it isgenerally provided with a spring which will tip it forward, or downwardin Figure 2. In the ordinary construction however, the relative downwardmotion of the handle 4 is resisted only by the compression upon the pipebetween the two faces and the result is that the pipe is frequentlycrushed for this reason. Some wrenches have been provided with a stopupon each side of the handle to prevent the motion of the movable headfrom being carried so far as to crush the pipe; but the action is notpositive. In the present invention I have provided for this by designingthe casing 8 with a loop 14 which extends underneath the handle of thewrench and by abutting against the handle just when the faces of thegripping jaws are parallel, preventing any further angular motionbetween the pivot points a, and c marked on Figure 2, and thereforeprovides for a fixed amount of compression upon the pipe and allows nomore than this amount. It also takes the strain of twisting the pipe tothe handle directly, and avoids the necessity of resisting this strainby the crushing resistance of the pipe itself, as is usually the case.

Upon the handle 4 of the wrench I provide a pocket by making an abutmentback of the pivoting point 9 of the housing and providing a lug l2 onthe handle. Inside of the lug l2 I supply abentlapping spring I3 of thepeculiar form shown in Figure 2. It has an upward bend in the bottomlap, and for a part of the length the two laps are in contact; it isalso so designed that it touches the housing above at a point betweenthe two contact points on the bottom so that it is held in place withoutthe necessity of any rivet or other fastening to the handle. The contactof the lapped parts avoids danger of breaking and gives a greater rangeof fleXure. This form of spring has the advantage of being easilyslipped into place in its pocket and of holding itself thereinautomatically by means of the lug l2, and also by reason of the peculiarform of the spring it has a beneficial action in producing' a varientupward pressure on the casing 8 in order to cause the wrench to takehold firmly and evenly upon the pipe as soon as the wrench is applied.

On the movable jaw 7 I prefer to form the threads l1 of the roundedsection shown for various reasons, among others it makes an easieroperating' thread and a smooth surface so that it will not injure thehand in handling'.

The form of the housing or screw nut mounting 8 makes it easy to slip itover the handle of the wrench in order to put it in place and enablesthe spring 13 to be easily inserted in the place and securely heldtherein. The advantages of the device will readily occur to thosefamiliar with its use. Thus the fact that the action of the spring tendsto keep the jaws always parallel very much facilitates the removal ofthe wrench from the pipe, because the jaws not converging the pipe isnotwedged in place as in the constructions where the spring tends tohold the jaws at an angle to each other. This easy release action isalso Inuch aided by the powerful spring used and by the fact that thespring at 13 bears upon a part of the housing and not upon the shank 7itself, as is customary where such springs have been used.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, whatI claim,and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is the following:

l. In a pipe wrench the combination of a handle having a notch thereinnear the pivot for the jaw and an abutment on the handle opposite theend of the jaw, a pivoted housing for the movable member having across-bar over said notch in the handle, and forming three sides of apractically closed chamber for the spring and a folded compressionspring adapted to be self retained in said pocket formed by the handleand housing, substantially as described.

2. In a pipe wrench in combination with a pivoted housing carrying amovable gripping jaw, a handle having an abutment and a lug under saidhousing forming a pocket, and a Hat bent spring having its free armspartly in contact to operate on said housing, substantially asdescribed.

3. A pipe wrench having a retractile jaw mounted in a pivoted housing incombination with a handle having an abutment just outside said housingand a generally il-shaped spring resting on the handle at two pointsinside the abutment and under the housing whereby it is self-retained inposition.

In testimony whereof I have hereunder signed my name in the presence ofthe two subscribed witnesses.

HARRY L. BORDWELL.

Witnesses: n

PAUL CARrEN'rnR, EDWARD C. BURNS.

